


Best Sleep of My Life

by captainamergirl



Series: Faith, Hope, Miracles [4]
Category: General Hospital
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:05:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: Jason chases away the nightmares.





	Best Sleep of My Life

** Best Sleep of My Life **   
  
She craved a warm cup of coffee to wrap her icy fingers around. Despite the stifling heat of a New York summer, she felt very chilled inside. But since she couldn’t even make coffee without burning it, she settled for cuddling underneath a thick cable-knit blanket and rubbing her hands together until they felt somewhat numb. She then turned on her side and curled into a fetal position. She didn’t intend to sleep; she didn’t think it was possible after the last nightmare she’d had, but she fell asleep somehow and she was immediately back on those docks, pulling on a wetsuit and diving into the freezing cold water. She can almost feel the iciness zipping through her suit but she swims on, swims as far and fast as she can. She feels the grainy sand between her fingers as she hits the bottom of the harbor. She sees through the murky haze to where his figurine lays abandoned. She feels the utter despair as she is forced to kick back to the surface. She feels the cold air burning her lungs as she breaks the surface. She sees the looks in everyone’s eyes. Their expressions say  _“give up, give up, he’s not coming back. You have to accept it.”_   
  
“No! Noooo!” She cries out and the sounds of her own screams awaken her. She bolts upright just as the front door bangs open and Jason comes running inside.   
  
“Sam, what’s wrong?” He asks and she immediately hurtles off the sofa and hops into his arms, clinging to him so tightly, as his arms wind around her tiny waist. She can’t breathe for a moment, can’t answer. The sheer emotion she is feeling right then completely overwhelms her. Tears run down her face as she buries her face in the fabric of his worn tee-shirt.   
  
“Sam?” he asked again. “Talk to me.” He reaches out and tilts her chin upwards. Sympathetic blue eyes meet wet brown ones.   
  
“I dreamt it again… I dreamt you died.”   
  
He lightly dabs at her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “I’m here, Sam. I’m not going anywhere. The only reason I am late getting home …”   
  
“I know. Brenda was in labor. Was the baby finally born?” She thinks if she changes the subject, she doesn’t have to think about the fears and doubts that are eating her alive. A big part of her died the night Jason went missing and she is afraid to trust in anything or anyone, anymore.   
  
“Not yet,” Jason replies. “I thought about staying for the ‘big event’ but I wanted to see you and Danny much more.”   
  
“He’s asleep. Before I came down here, I sat with him for like an hour. Just watching him sleep, being so thankful he came home to us. Sometimes it scares me… Thinking about how much we almost lost… And I hate being scared. That’s not how I’m wired.”   
  
Jason strokes her cheek gently. “It’s okay to be scared, Sam. You’re human. Everyone gets scared. Even me,” he says with a thin, sheepish smile. “Thinking of how many times I almost lost you. Thinking that our son was gone forever … Thinking I might never see you again after I was shot by Faison … It all freaked me out.”   
  
Sam sighs and dabs at her moist cheeks. “I don’t know how to stop being scared. The seven days you were missing after being shot … They were the longest seven days of my life. I guess sometimes that fucks with my mind. I didn’t sleep a lot then, but when I did, I remember waking up and reaching for you and you weren’t there. You weren’t there, Jason, and my heart broke every single time. For a moment tonight, I was back there. Even if it’s stupid, I was paralyzed.”   
  
Jason reaches out and tucks a strand of her jet black hair behind her ear. She loves the feeling of his touch. It helps drag her back to the present. It helps her to know that he’s really here and this is not just a dream – him holding her. It’s real.  _They are real._ They have everything. If only she can let go of the fear that everything is going to fall apart again.   
  
“I am not leaving you, Sam. When I said I’d always come back to you, I meant it. I am so sorry you went through hell thinking the worst. But you were also the one person who refused to give up on me. Because of you, I was found and got the help I needed. That means everything to me.”   
  
“You mean everything to me, Jason. You and Danny. You’re everything to me.”   
  
“We’ve been through the worst, Sam. I feel like we’re really on the other side now. You just have to trust in that. But if you can’t right now, I understand that too. Maybe you should talk to someone. I don’t know the right things to say…”   
  
“You sell yourself short,” Sam said. “You heal me like no one else can.”   
  
“You were never broken, Sam. Never.”   
  
“That is such a beautiful thing to say,” Sam whispers hoarsely.   
  
“It's true.”   
  
Sam smiles. “Thank you. Thank you for loving me better than anyone else ever has.”   
  
“You did the same for me,” Jason said. He traces the line of her left cheek. “You look exhausted. Why don’t you get some rest and –“   
  
“No. I don’t need –"   
  
“You do need sleep,” he says. “I’ll stay with you, okay? The whole night. And when you wake up in the morning, you’ll see I’m still there. You’ll see I am not going anywhere.”   
  
Sam nods in agreement. He’s right. She is exhausted and she does need rest. The nightmares might not be quite so frightening if Jason is right beside her in the bed, holding her tight. “I don’t think I can make it upstairs though,” she says honestly.   
  
“I’ll carry you,” Jason says and before she can protest, he is picking her up and lightly pressing her petite body to his hard chest. She relaxes into his embrace as he moves upstairs with her in his arms. By the time he gently settles her down on the bed, her eyelids are sagging. She rolls onto her side and feels Jason climb into bed with her, wrapping his arms around her waist, spooning their bodies. She leans back into him and then falls asleep.   
  
She sleeps deeply and for the first time in a very long time, the nightmares don’t come. She feels Jason there, even in her subconscious.   
_  
It’s the best sleep she’s had in what seems like forever._


End file.
